


An Almost Disaster

by Wordsmith16



Series: How It Should Have Been [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Harry Potter was Raised by Sirius Black, Revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-21
Updated: 2016-03-21
Packaged: 2018-05-28 06:12:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6317866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wordsmith16/pseuds/Wordsmith16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After their first outing in four years, Sirius and Harry return home.  But it is not the peaceful evening Sirius envisioned, and a face from the past brings less than welcome friction and some answers to some questions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Almost Disaster

**Author's Note:**

> This is part two of the How It Should Have Been series. I hope you like it! I would appreciate any feedback and kudos, as always :)
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters; only the plot is my own.

Night had fallen, and Harry had drifted off to sleep on the couch with his head on Sirius’ lap. Sirius was still going over earlier that day, in Flourish and Blots, thinking about how many ways that could have ended very badly. Malfoy had some nerve, showing his face in Diagon Alley, filthy Death Eater. But that was not all that was on his mind. He was expecting them that night.

            Slowly and gently, Sirius lifted Harry into his arms and carried him into his room. As he laid Harry down on his bed and tucked him in, he looked around the room he had helped decorate. Harry loved Quidditch, even now as he was almost too young to understand what was going on at four years old. Many of Sirius’ wizarding photos had made their way one by one into Harry’s bedroom, most of them being of the marauders, of Sirius and James, of James, Sirius, Remus, and Lily, of James, Lily, and Harry, or the most recent, of Sirius and Harry, sometimes with Remus as well. His toy broomstick was on the floor, as well as what looked like ALL of the toddler’s clothes. With a smirk on his face, Sirius turned and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

            At that moment, he heard a knock on the door. He took a deep breath. They were here, just as he knew they would be. He straightened his jumper and walked calmly to the door, opening it to see the pretty, familiar face of Amelia Bones. This surprised him.

            “Hello, Sirius. May we come in?” Her tone was conversational, but he knew why they were there. Brain still whirring, he stepped aside to admit the team of five Ministry officials into his living room. A minute later he could have hit himself. Of course Amelia was here, she was the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

            “I know why you’re here, Amelia,” he said, ignoring the other four wizards that had accompanied her, “and you’re wrong.”

            “You expect us to believe that…” Holding up a hand to silence the flustered little wizard who had just raised his voice, he spoke.

            “I would appreciate it if you would all keep your voices down. My godson is asleep just down the hall.” Looking slightly abashed, the little wizard began again in a much quieter voice.

            “You expect us to believe that it wasn’t you who sold the Potters to He-Who-Must –Not-Be-Named? You were their secret keeper, who else could have told them?”

            “But I wasn’t. That’s the point. I wasn’t.” He looked at Amelia, whose eyebrows had contracted. She was a very young Head, only twenty-three years old, like him, and just as beautiful as he remembered. Her dark hair shined in the moonlight filtering through the window, her eyes bright and deep, regarding him like she always had when they had locked eyes at school. She knew him, or of him, at least, and he could tell that she had trouble believing that he would betray James and Lily.

            “What do you mean, you weren’t, Sirius? You weren’t their secret keeper? Who else would James have trusted?” Sirius was about to answer when he felt something small crash into his legs.

            “Sirius, Sirius!” He knew that voice, the scared, half-crying voice that Harry only got after nightmares. Bending down, he scooped his little charge up into his arms.

            “What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?” He felt Harry nod into the crook of his neck, felt the little arms tighten around his neck. “What about?”

            “The green light.” This was not new. Ever since he was old enough to dream, Harry had dreamt about the green light that accompanied the killing curse. He knew where it came from, Sirius had explained, but he had not pressed Harry about if he remembered anything else from the night Lily and James were killed. The Ministry wizards looked at each other, astounded. Slowly, Amelia inched closer, looking in Harry’s scared, startlingly green eyes.

            “Hello, Harry. My name is Amelia Bones. It is very nice to meet you.”

            “Hello, Amelia.” Harry replied, his light eyes locked in her dark ones.

            “Do you remember anything about the night you came to live with Sirius other than the green light?” It was very likely that this was the only chance to find out, because he would not remember as he got older. Harry nodded.

            “Harry, you are so loved. So loved. Harry, Mama loves you. Dada loves you. Be brave, Harry. Be strong.” While the words were now spoken in the little boy’s matter-of-fact tones, he could hear Lily whispering it, Voldemort almost all the way up the stairs, getting closer to the nursery. Amelia reached out cautiously and took Harry into her arms. But he wasn’t done talking. “A man came. Mummy got in front of me so I couldn’t see him. ‘Step aside, silly girl.’ His voice was strange. ‘No, not Harry, please not Harry! Kill me instead!’” He stopped talking then, and never again recounted those memories. By age six it was clear that he no longer remembered that night.

            All the wizards were dead quiet, Sirius gripping the end table so tightly that his knuckles were completely white. He looked ill, like Lupin usually did. Amelia was the first to speak.

            “Harry, we need to talk to Sirius. How about if you go into Sirius’s room and climb into bed and he’ll come and tuck you in again in just a few minutes, alright?” Harry nodded and slid down to the floor, his small feet padding on the floor as he ran to Sirius’ room. Crossing to his side, Amelia placed a hand on his shoulder.

            “Sirius,” she said very quietly, “I believe you.” When he looked up at her, his eyes were pained. In a matter of seconds, his appearance had transformed from open, happy, and healthy, to tortured, drawn, and very ill. “Who then, Sirius?” Her voice was extremely gentle. “Not…” He could tell it had dawned on her. She was remembering the band: James Potter. Remus Lupin. Sirius Black. And… She gasped. “Peter Pettigrew.” With trouble, he nodded.

            “James trusted him as much as he did me or Remus. He thought that the only people in the world you could trust completely were your friends, and he considered it the highest dishonor to mistrust them. And Lily…” His breaths were coming in short bursts. “Lily loved everyone. You didn’t have to earn her trust, she gave it willingly. I might as well have given them up, Amelia. I convinced them to switch to Peter, thinking that it would throw Voldemort off the trail. I knew he would immediately think it was me, and come after me, and I couldn’t take the chance that I might crack under pressure. And the idiot I was, I thought Remus was the spy. It never occurred to me that a fat little coward without much talent could be it. Only four people knew about the switch: Me, James, Lily, and the one person we were trying to keep the information from.” Silent throughout his whole speech, Amelia now grasped his hand, squeezing it so tightly that it hurt, but the pain was welcome.

            “Sirius, it’s not your fault. Do you have any idea where Pettigrew might be hiding?” He shook his head wearily.

            “No, I…” They heard a crash from down the hall. As one, Amelia and Sirius took off at a sprint down the hall, turning into his room and stopping dead. A small, plump, twitchy man was leaning over Harry, wand drawn and pointed carefully in his face. His hair was greasy and overgrown, his fingernails torn and mangled with dirt caked underneath them. As fat as he was, he had the unmistakable appearance of someone who had recently lost a great deal of weight. Harry, far from being frightened, looked curious, intrigued by this man that had a magic wand like Sirius’s. Before Pettigrew could blink, Sirius and Amelia had their wands out, followed with only a half second delay by the other Ministry wizards. Pettigrew could not disguise his action; it made it clear that he had meant to harm the boy. He lifted his arms in surrender and dropped his wand.

            “I should warn you, Amelia, he’s an unregistered animagus. He can transform into a rat.” Sirius glared at Pettigrew, waves of blinding rage washing over him. “It was a very bad idea to come here, Wormtail.” His voice was deadly quiet. What little color had returned to his face since Harry’s memory had drained back out when he saw Pettigrew with his wand in the face of Lily Potter’s son. He was about to sweep in to grab Harry away, but Amelia beat him to it, whisking Harry out from under the covers in one, swift movement and walking purposefully out the door. Resisting the urge to follow, Sirius transformed Pettigrew with a wave of his wand, grabbing him by the tail. He then bewitched a small container with an unbreakable charm and deposited the slimy little traitor into it.

            “Amelia, I…” Harry was asleep in her arms, his dark little head resting on her shoulder, her cheek pressed against the top of his head. It was almost as if she read his mind, because she smiled slightly, and all the reasons he had loved her when they were in school came flooding into his mind. The laughing face of Remus Lupin flashed in front of his eyes.

            “I’ve got to call Remus.” She nodded slightly, and he turned away, her smile fresh in his mind. He made it to the phone, but he momentarily forgot Lupin’s number, the high of Amelia Bones clouding his mind. It took a minute before he snapped out of it.

            “Hello?” Remus’ calm voice came over the receiver.

            “Remus, we have a situation.”


End file.
